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Times of India – World
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Summary
Tiny UK village holds 'independence' vote over asylum seeker housing
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Published by Times of India – World on timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Assembled automatically from 4 independent reports — every line below is a real sentence from a real source, not generated text. Numbers link to where each point came from.
"I think what this result shows is that Piddington campaigners have done an incredible job to highlight their concerns about the proposed asylum centre," the leader of Oxfordshire county council, Tim Bearder, told the BBC .[1]
There were 89,089 people in asylum accommodation as of June 2026.[2]
The result of the poll in Piddington, Oxfordshire, was announced on Wednesday morning after 312 people voted on Tuesday.[3]
Tiny UK village holds 'independence' vote over asylum seeker housing[4]
The village's parish council announced that with 312 ballots counted, 285 had voted to secede from Britain over plans to house asylum seekers in a nearby disused military site, in a symbolic vote with no recognised legal basis.
Together, these initial decision and appeal cases form the government’s total asylum applications backlog, which it has pledged to clear .
The result of the poll in Piddington, Oxfordshire, was announced on Wednesday morning after 312 people voted on Tuesday.
Tiny UK village holds 'independence' vote over asylum seeker housing
Galeano, who has had asylum application pending for about seven years, was pulled over by agents while driving for Lyft Veteran journalist Luis Galeano, one of at least 94 Nicaraguans whom the Ortega Murillo regime has stripped of citizenship in recent years for opposing the government, has been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE (immigration enforcement agency)). Galeano, who has continued critically reporting on the Sandinista government online through his platform, Café con voz , since shortly after arriving in the US in 2018, has had an asylum application pending for about seven years, according to his wife, Daykel Santamaría. He also has a work permit and a social security number, she said. Continue reading...
Subscribed with another email? The village's parish council announced that with 312 ballots counted, 285 had voted to secede from Britain over plans to house asylum seekers in a nearby disused military site, in a symbolic vote with no recognised legal basis. Residents were handed a ballot paper with the statement: "I support Piddington seeking to secede from the United Kingdom and pursuing self-determination." A drone view shows a former military site near Piddington, England, which has been proposed as accommodation for up to 1,250 asylum seekers | Photo Credit: Reuters The local parish council chair Tim McNally said that the village will now be known as the "principality of Piddington". "I think what this result shows is that Piddington campaigners have done an incredible job to highlight their concerns about the proposed asylum centre," the leader of Oxfordshire county council, Tim Bearder, told the BBC . The council chief warned the planned centre "will be a lightning rod to the far right, who come here to protest" and "potentially attack" asylum seekers. But Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told the BBC that a former military base "is a better option for housing asylum seekers" than hotels or rented accommodation. "We do have to house people somewhere while we get a grip on the asylum chaos and that base will go ahead," she said. Around Britain, regular protests have been staged in towns and villages against the housing of asylum seekers in hotels and other facilities. According to the government, the proposed centre would be used for a minimum of 10 years to house single adult male asylum seekers. The centre-left Labour Party, in power since July 2024, is phasing out the use of hotels as migrant accommodation, a policy it inherited from the previous Conservative government.
Watch: Piddington referendum result is announced Residents of an Oxfordshire village have voted to become independent from the UK in a symbolic referendum held in protest at plans to house more than 1,000 migrants at a former military base. "We inherited an enormous asylum backlog, we are processing claims much more quickly, we are removing people who don't have the right to be here. There were 89,089 people in asylum accommodation as of June 2026. Most people who arrive in the UK by small boat claim asylum, but they were only 40% of all asylum seekers from July 2025 to June 2026. The rest include people who arrived by other illegal means or who came to the UK legally and applied for asylum while holding, or just after holding, a valid visa. It can take years for the government to decide whether someone should be granted asylum. As of June 2026, a further 90,341 refused asylum applications were part of a second backlog, waiting the outcome of an appeal in the courts. Together, these initial decision and appeal cases form the government’s total asylum applications backlog, which it has pledged to clear . Refugee status was granted in about 38% of asylum decisions made by the Home Office from July 2025 to June 2026. Tim Beader, Oxfordshire County Council leader, said the campaigners had done an incredible job at highlighting their concerns about the proposed asylum centre.